Distribute Group SPDs and SMMs by March 1
Today is the deadline to distribute your cooperative’s 2017 Group Benefits Program summary plan description (SPD) and summary of material modifications (SMM) documents to plan participants. If you haven’t already done so, please give these important notices to your employees right away, and then fill out the acknowledgement form. You can now download your documents and acknowledge distribution from the same location on the Employee Benefits website.
These individuals must receive SPDs and SMMs:
- New employees (within 90 days of the date they first become covered under the plan); and
- These individuals (by the March 1, 2017 deadline):
- Active & disabled employees
- Retirees
- Directors & retained attorneys
- COBRA qualified beneficiaries
- Dependents of deceased employees/retirees who continue to be covered
- Children covered under a qualified medical child support order
Before distributing your notices, review the distribution checklist, instructions, rules for who must receive SPDs and SMMs, and information about electronic distribution methods. These are all available on the Employee Benefits website.
Acknowledgement tips
The full acknowledgement checklist is available online. Remember these highlights:
- If you didn’t distribute SPDs or SMMs for one of your plans because it has no participants, fill in zero (0) on the form for the number of participants.
- Don’t skip the Number of Participants Who Are Not Literate in English. This number is different from the Number of Participants Enrolled, which refers to all participants enrolled in the plan regardless of English literacy.
If you have questions as you review and distribute your SPDs and SMMs, contact the group compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7, or email us at group.compliance@nreca.coop.